IIHS Rates Vehicles Based on Roof Strength and Rollover Protection

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is launching a new rating system for vehicle roof strength to help consumers pick vehicles that will protect them during rollover crashes. According to an article in the Auto Channel, IIHS put 12 small sport utility vehicles to the test first and out of these 12 SUVs, only four earned a “good” rating. The Kia Sportage received the worst or weakest roof rating among the 2008-2009 models tested by the Institute and the Volkswagen Tiguan had the strongest rated roof. IIHS’ recent research demonstrated the fact that stronger roofs can protect vehicle occupants much better in the event of a rollover crash. The Institute determined that vehicles rated good must have roofs that are more than twice as strong as the minimum required by federal safety standards.

Here’s a break-up of how the 12 SUVs tested by IIHS fared:

“Good” rating: Volkswagen Tiguan, Subaru Forester, Honda Element and Jeep Patriot.
“Acceptable” rating: Suzuki Grand Vitara, Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander
“Marginal” rating: Honda CR-V, Ford Escape
“Poor” rating: Kia Sportage

The IIHS embarked on these tests because inadequate federal roof strength standards fail to give consumers a true picture of what is available in the market. We are still waiting for a federal roof strength ruling to replace an outdated standard that has not been modified for the last 35 years. That weak standard has basically allowed auto makers to get away with manufacturing vehicles with weak and unsafe roofs. In a rollover accident, these roofs cave in on the vehicle’s occupants causing catastrophic and fatal injuries. Bisnar | Chase has represented numerous victims of SUV rollover crashes over the years. Bisnar|Chase has also conducted independent tests at our own expense, which clearly showed that many sport utility vehicles were nothing but death traps because they lacked roof strength.

More than 10,000 people are killed in rollover crashes in the United States each year. What happens in these auto accidents is that when a vehicle overturns, its roof hits the ground, deforms and crushes. It makes sense that stronger roofs would crush less, reducing the risk that people will be injured or killed by contact with the roof itself. Injuries and fatalities involving rollovers double when it comes to SUVs. About 25 percent of occupant deaths in crashes of cars and minivans involve rolling over. For SUVs, this proportion jumps to 59 percent.

It takes auto makers a few hundred dollars per vehicle to improve this defective design. But over the years, auto makers have done very little to improve vehicle roof strength and the recent IIHS study only proves that. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a SUV rollover crash, please contact a reputed auto product defect law firm that has the resources and the experience to stand up against these auto makers and get you the justice and compensation you deserve.